Communication in its simplest form is the transmission of information. One person talking to another, computers sending signals to other computers, a simple stop sign, all are forms of communication. Whether they use sound, words, images or a combination of these, they present data to someone.
The traditional model of communication developed by Shannon and Weaver in 1949 still works today as a scientific representation. The internet is basically communication between an information source and a destination, even though that destination could be half way around the world. It does not however address feedback, which is immediately available from the "receiver" and the idea that one "message" could be intercepted and reacted to by millions of people.
Chandler[1] believes that communication is more a transmission of meaning rather than information. It involves a process where the source (author) relays information to the destination (listeners, viewers or readers) who must understand and make sense of the material. It's not a passive exchange, it is an active one. He states, "Meaning is not 'extracted', but constructed."
In that sense, each person involved in the communication has an active role and perception of the information can be different based on many factors. Communication is not straight information, it is strained through the experiences, knowledge and views of the receiver and may end up meaning something very different from person to person.
Therefor, mass communication, simply put, would be the transmission of information/meaning to many people. In Chandler's view, that would infer one message could be interpreted quite differently depending on who received it. Mass distribution of concepts change meaning depending on context, education, culture, time, form and power of both the initiators and the interpreters.
Hardt[2] believes that, to the detriment of the individual, social communication morphed into mass communication right about the time that Guttenberg invented the printing press (circa 1450). In fact the advancement of technology has had a huge impact on the nature, scope and political power of mass communication. According to Hardt's research, "The term 'mass communication' itself was allegedly coined by Harold Lasswell in the early 1940s in the context of government work related to propaganda activities during World War II." As technology increases, so does governments' control over the distribution of information, and of course, Big Business generates the money for technology advancement so they have control of the government. It amounts to people in power deciding what we need to know (news), what we need to have (advertising) and generating the "information" that bombards the public every day. A scary thought.
Are we so numbed by the volume and homogenized nature of the information we're being spoon fed that we take it as absolute truth? Is the news we're seeing on tv actually propaganda? Do we really need the newest iPad gizmo for complete happiness? Maybe we should take it upon ourselves to ferret out the meaning of the communications we're involved in and decide as individuals whether they are valid or not.
[1] Chandler, Daniel. The Transmission Model of Communication. UWA. 1994. http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/short/trans.html. 1/4/2011. Internet.
[2] Hardt, Hanno. “Myths for the Masses - An Essay on Mass Communication”. Blackwell Manifestos. 2004, pp2 - 89. Hardcover.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment